Philosophical Writing

• Features an entirely new chapter on how to read a philosophical essay, new sections on quantification and modality, and rhetoric in philosophical writing, as well as more updated essay examples
• Includes many new essay examples and an accompanying website with further topics and examples
• Traces the evolution of a good philosophical essay from draft stage to completion
• Emphasizes what a student should do in crafting an essay, rather than on what not to do
• Written with clarity and humor by a leading philosopher

Note to the Fourth Edition x

Note to the Third Edition xi

Note to the Second Edition xii

Introduction 1

1 Author and Audience 8

1 The Professor as Audience 8

2 The Student as Author 11

3 Three Attitudes about Philosophical Method 15

2 Logic and Argument for Writing 17

1 What is a Good Argument? 17

2 Valid Arguments 21

3 Cogent Arguments 31

4 Quantification and Modality 35

5 Consistency and Contradiction 40

6 Contraries and Contradictories 43

7 The Strength of a Proposition 46

3 The Structure of a Philosophical Essay 51

1 An Outline of the Structure of a Philosophical Essay 51

2 Anatomy of an Essay 57

3 Another Essay 63

4 Composing 67

1 How to Select an Essay Topic 68

2 Techniques for Composing 69

3 Outlining 70

4 The Rhetoric of Philosophical Writing 70

5 Successive Elaboration 72

6 Conceptual Note Taking 81

7 Research and Composing 83

8 Sentences and Paragraphs 84

9 Polishing 87

10 Evolution of an Essay 89

5 Tactics for Analytic Writing 101

1 Definitions 102

2 Distinctions 108

3 Analysis 111

4 Dilemmas 119

5 Scenarios 123

6 Counterexamples 125

7 Reductio ad Absurdum 132

8 Dialectical Reasoning 138

6 Some Constraints on Content 146

1 The Pursuit of Truth 146

2 The Use of Authority 147

3 The Burden of Proof 150

7 Some Goals of Form 152

1 Coherence 152

2 Clarity 156

3 Conciseness 162

4 Rigor 165

8 Problems with Introductions 168

1 Slip Sliding Away 168

2 The Tail Wagging the Dog 173

3 The Running Start 175

9 How to Read a Philosophical Work 181

1 Find the Thesis Sentence 181

2 Precision of Words, Phrases, and Sentences 185

3 Proving the Case 186

Appendix A: “It’s Sunday Night and I Have an Essay

Due Monday Morning” 190

Appendix B: How to Study for a Test 193

Appendix C: Research: Notes, Citations, and References 195

Appendix D: Philosophy Resources on the Internet, by Neil Sinhababu 201

Appendix E: On Grading 205

Appendix F: Glossary of Philosophical Terms 208

Index 218

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